'•^V 

■'^^r. 






•. ^. 



'^7. 



if 

•-.■c ... 



%" 



/v 



>p^^. 










"^ '^.T*^ A <. ♦^TTT*' «G^ "^o^ '0,1* J\ ^ 

5^ 



^^^ 













'^' ^ «^ '.-0 .- 
























'»bv* 



\^ ^o-nK '•J 




FIRST REPORT 



NEW-YORK 



COLONZZATIOBT SOCIETY. 



NEW-YORK : 



faiNTED BY J. SEYMOUR. 

1823. 






THE NEW- YORK OBSERVF 

A RELIGIOUS JVEfFSPAPER, 

Is published weekly in the city of New-York, on Saturday m( The 

first number was issued on the 17th of May. The paper is princip-ta/ ^ evated 
to Religious Intelligence, but contains also miscellaneous articles, anJ btio.ma*' 
lies of news, and information on every subject in which the commii.:ily J.-- inte- 
rested The advantages enjoyed in the city of New- York for <;i.M c the 
earliest intelligence from all parts of the globe, and for diffusing it i \ M i,i this 
country, it is now well understood, are greatly superior to those i a. \ other 
city in the United States, and this pre-eminence is every year increasing. The 
conductors of the Observer, by means of their correspondence with gentlemen in 
Europe, will be able to procure the earliest infoimation on all subjects interesting 
to the Religious community. The Observer will not be the advocate of the pe- 
culiar opinions of any sect or denomination, religious or political. 

SIDNEY E. MORSE, } -,,.. , 

f Editors and 

RICHARD C. MORSE, ) ^^oftietote. 
The Observer is recommended by the following gentlemen : 
Rev. Gardiner Spring, Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church. 
.. John M'Dowell, D. D. Pastor of the First Presb. Church, Elizabethtown. 
.. James Milnor, D. I). Rector of St. George's Church. 

.. J. M. Mathews, D. D Pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church in Garden-st. 
.. Wm. M'Munay, D. D. Pastor of the Reformed Dutrh Church in Market-st. 
.. Thomas M'Auley, D. D. Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Rutgers-st. 
.. Stephen N. Rowan, D. D. Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Greenwich 

Village. 
.. John B. Romeyn, D. D. Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Cedar-street. 
.. Philip Milledoler, D. D. Collegiate Pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church. 
.. Alexander M'Leod, D. D. Pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. 
.. Ph. M. Whelpley, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. 
,. Samuel H Cox, Pastor of the Spring-street Presbyterian Church. 
.. John Knox, Collegiate Pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church. 
.. William D. Snodgrass, Pastor of the Murray-street Presbyterian Church. 
.. Robert M'Cartce, Pastor of the Orange-street Presbyterian Church. 
.. Nicholas J. Marselus, Pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church at Greenwich. 

James G. Ogilvie, Pastor of the Fourteenth Presbyterian Church, in Provost- 
street. 
.. Ward Stafford, Pastor of the Bowery Presbyterian Church. 
., William Patton, Pastor of the Fresbytrrinn Church in Broome-street. 
.. Johnson Chase, Pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church. 
.. John Williams, Pastor of the Baptist Meeting in Oliver-street. 
.. David Porter, D. D. of Catskill. 

,. James Richards, D.D. Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Newark, N. .1. 
.. Philip C. Hay, Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Newark, N. J. 
.. Samuel Fisher, Pastor of the Fres-byterian Church, Fatersoii, N.J. 
.. .\sa Hillyer, D. I). Pnstor of the First Presbyterian Church, Orange, N. J. 
.. David' Magie, Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Elizabethtown. 
.. Joseph M'Carrell, Pastor of the Associate Reformed Congregation of New- 
burgh. 

John Johnston, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church inNewburgh. 



From the Boston Missionary Herald, for Jlugust, 1823. 
Early in May, a religious newspaper was commenced in New- York citj', de- 
nominated the " New-York Observer." Thus far it has been edited with ability, 
and from the reputation of the Editor, there can be no doubt but its churactejr 
(vill be sustained. 



CONDITIONS. 

1. The paper is issued weekly, on Saturdaji morning. 

2. It is printed iti the folio form, on paper of the royal size. 

3. The price is three dollars n year, payable in si.x months; or two dollars 
and fifty cents, if paid in advance. 

iri" Any person becoming rei-ponsiblr for s-ix cojiies, shall receive a seventh. 
Stibscriptioii-. received at the H<u)ksi()ic of John P. Haven, No. 182 Broadway, 
•ind at the Lditois'' Otfice, .^0 Wall->tieel. 



FIRST REPORT 



zrBw-yoRs cox.osnzATXOir soczbty. 



READ AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, 



Vi 



OCTOBER 29, 18?^ 



NEW-YORK ; 

T'RTNTRrt VY .T. SEYMOUR^ JOHN-STRKf 

1823. 



coiirsTXTUXj:o]Nr 



NEW-YORK COLONIZATION SOCIETl 



ARTICLE 1. 

I'his Jnslituiion shall be known by the name ot' the JNew-Vork Colon r- 
NATION Society. 

ARTICLE IJ. 

The object of the Society shall be to co-operate vvitli tiie Parent Society 
at Washington, instituted for the purpose of colonizing the free people of 
colour of the United States. 

ARTICLE III. 

Any person, paying one dollar annually, or thirty dollars at one tinie, 
shall be a member of this Society. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The business of the Society shall be conducted by a Board of Directort;, 
consisting of a President, four Vice-Presidents, a Corresponding Secretarj^ 
a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, and twelve Managers, to be annually 
chosen by this Society : they shall have power to make their own By-Laws, 
and to fill their own vacancies. Five shall constitute a quorum. 

ARTICLE V. 

I'he annual meeting of this Society shall be held on the last W^dnesda}' 
in October, at foTir o'clock P. M. 

ARTICLE VI. 

This Constitution may be altered at an annual meeting by a voteof two- 
thirds of the membei's prespn*. 



OFFICERS AND MANAGERS, 



roR 1823-21. 



Vice-Presidenls. 



Col. Henry Rutgers, President. 

Col. William Few, 

Rev. Alexander M'Leod, D.D. 

Mr. DiviE Bethune, 

Rev. Philip Milledoler, D.D. 

Mr. Grove Wright, Treasure)'. 

Rev. Paschal N. Strong, Corresponding Secretarif. 

.John B. Beck, M.D. Recording Secretary. 

OTHER J\IAJ^AGERS. 

Rev. John B. Romevn, D.D. Mr. Joseph Smith, 

James Milnor, D.D. George P. Shipman, 

William M'Murkav, D.D. Charles G. Haines. 

Mr. George Gallagher, John Targee, 

Garrit N. Blkecker, William G. Jones, 

William B. Crosby, Harris Scovell. 

William Colgate. 

T^ORiNG D. Dewkv. .igent «(' flip Gtucrnl Snntin. 



REPORT. 



Nearly seven years have elapsed since a Society was tbrm- 
ed at Washington, for the purpose of " promoting and exe- 
cuting a plan for colonizing the free people of colour, residing 
in America, in Africa, or such other place as Congress should 
deem most expedient." As a preliminary step to the carry- 
ing of this plan into successful execution, it was deemed pro- 
per to send out agents to the coast of Africa, to ascertain the 
most favourable site for the proposed colony, and at the same 
time to gather such general information as might facilitate the 
future operations of the Society. Messrs. Mills and Burgess 
were accordingly appointed upon this service in the year 
1817; and the result of their labours and inquiries was such 
as to satisfy the Managers that the establishment of a colony 
on the west coast of Africa might be attempted, not merely 
with safety, but with every prospect of success. Having ob- 
tained this information, it was determined at once to com- 
mence their labours in this region of the globe ; and mea- 
sures were immediately adopted for sending out, with all pos- 
sible speed, the first settlers in the proposed colony. A ves- 
sel, the Elizabeth, was accordingly cliartered and dispatched 
lo Africa, with about eighty coloured people, together with 
the two agents of the Society, and one of the government of 
the United States, appointed to superintend the reception of 
rescued slaves from on board the slaving ships. The vessel 
sailed from this port, and the spirit and alacrity with whicli 
our citizens came forward to furnish her with necessary sup- 
plies, exhibit a satisfactory proof that they are not insensiblo 
to the claims of this noble and benevolent enterprise. 

The first location of the colonists, on their reaching Africa, 
proved, unfortunately, to be in every respect disadvantageous ; 



.111(1 iiiJoniialiun xxiu rciiclictl ilic !M;uKit;irj. (»l llie dt'iilli en 
ilio iliri'f aiiciiis, (niictliiT \\itli al)(Hif twenty of the colonists. 
Ill coiisefiucme oliliese and oilier disasters, tlireateninf;; their 
immediatt' and ahiiost total destruction, the colonists, on the 
arrival of new accents from the United States, were removed 
lo Sierra Leone, and placed under the protection of the Bri- 
tish government. Here they remained until a proper situation 
could be procured for their settlement. Through the zeal 
and ability of Dr. Ayres, agent of the Society, and Lieute- 
nant Stockton, of the United States Navy, this was accom- 
plished. A tract of land at Cape Montserado,* was purchased 
from the native kings, which, according to the description 
given of it, combines every local advantage, situated on the 
banks of a large river, " and with one of the best harbours 
between Gibraltar and the Cape of Good Hope." The colo- 
nists were soon after removed to this spot, and the first foun- 
dation of a settlement laid, whose benign influence, we trust, 
\\ ill be felt and acknowledged for ages to come, in the remot- 
est regions of Africa. 

It is unnecessary lo dwell, in detail, upon the intermediate 
history of the colony. The annual Reports of the parent In- 
stitution contain the amplest information on this subject, and 
are filled with a recital oflhe most important incidents in rela- 
tion to its origin and progress. To the lover of bold adven- 
ture, as well as to the pliilanthropist and the Christian, we re- 
commend the perusal of these interesting documents. It is 
sufficient for our present purj)osc to state, that, notwithstand- 
ing the flangers and thtf diflicultios necessarily attending the 
planting of an infant settlement on a remote and barbarous 
shore, the colony still exists and flourishes. According to th(,' 
latest accounts, the number of settlers is about two hundred, 
under the sui)erintendence of two agents, of acknowledged 
character and abilities. The misiinderstaiuling, w hich at first 
existed between them and the natives, has been satisfactorily 



* Cajic ISloiilscrado, which is higli luinl, i« situated in (ibout tlic fiflli ilcgroc 
<>i north hitiliiiie. Sierra I-none is in N. int. {J<^' 30'. Mcsiirndo is Ihi' iianif 
of (he river inul buy Ihal wn-^h the cape. Tlic «"n|>c is hIso somPtinies calleil 

^IrxiirH'I'i. . 



adjusted, and every tiling seems propitious to the growth and 
perpetuity of the establishment. (A)* 

Such is a brief sketch of what has been accomplished under 
the auspices of the parent Society. To aid in the execution of 
a plan, so magnificent in its design, and so benevolent in its 
object, this x\uxiliary was formed. It has already existed for 
six years, and though less has been done by it than was either 
wished or expected by the friends of colonization, yet the Ma- 
nagers feel confident that its formation and continued existence 
have not been without their use. Although it has thus far 
contributed but little to the pecuniary resources of the Socie- 
ty, the Managers flatter themselves that it may have been the 
means of keeping alive, in this section of our country, a sym- 
pathy for the general object, which, it is hoped, will ere long- 
pervade every portion of the community. N6twitlistanding 
the open hostility of some, the skepticism of others, and the 
cold indiflerence of a still greater number, the JManagers are 
proud to record their firm and unalterable conviction in fa- 
vour of the great cause in which they are enlisted. They 
believe it to be a project, not merely practicable, but preg- 
nant with the greatest blessings to humanity. (B) To this 
country it ofiers the onlj' possible means of gradually ridding 
ourselves of a mighty evil, and of obliterating the foulest stain 
upon our nation's honour. To those who emigrate, it oflers 
an asylum in the land of their fathers, where they may stand 
forth in the character of men, and enjoy the rights and pri- 
vileges of freemen. To Africa, it offers the suppression ot' 
the slave trade, while it presents in bold perspective the 
brightest prospects of future civilization and refinement. (C) 
If this unfortunate portion of our globe is ever to be rege-- 
nerated in its intellectual and moral character, there is no 
question that it will have to be the result of eftbrts foreign 
to itself. J. All history proves that no people were ever redeem- 
ed from ignorance and Ijarbarism, except tin'ough the agency 
of a nation already civilized. 

If such be the fact, how immensely does the establishment 
of this colony swell in interest, when viewed in its relations to 

* The letters' (A). CB).and (C), refer to the AppenHh 



Africa ! It i> no txuav again supposiuon, that, il" s-uccess 
attends the present enterprise, colonies will ere long be 
lound estabiislied in abundance along the coast of Africa, 
and that through them, civilization, science, and Christianity, 
will pour their blessings over a suflering and degraded conti- 
nent. It is impossible to believe, for one moment, that a plan 
which promises such splendid results will be suffered to lan- 
guish by the American public. The countenance and pa- 
tronage already extended to the infant settlement by the go- 
vernment of the United States, shows that the object is and 
and ought to be a national one. The Managers entertain the 
hope, that ?re long this must become a general sentiment 
throughout our country, and that every heart must be awa- 
kened to the claims of this Institution. 



APPENDIX. 



PRESENT STATE OF THE COLOAi. 

Formal possession of Cape Montserado was taken on the 'Zbth 
of April, 1022, when the American flag was hoisted. The name 
Liberia is given to the region purchased of the natives, and Mon- 
rovia to the town then commenced. The plan of the town is, to 
build on one principal street, on which each settler has a house 
and lot, and in addition, is furnished with a plantation out of town. 
These, if he improves them industriously for two years, become 
his and his heirs for ever. At the head of this street, in a com- 
manding position, stands the fort, a strongly built stone and mortar 
fortification ; its foundations laid several feet below the surface. 
The colonists are now engaged in building, and clearing the land. 
The following extracts will show the present state and prospects 
of the colony. The first is from a letter to a reverend gentleman 
in Baltimore, dated Jane 20, 1823, written by Mr. Ashmun, the 
United States' agent to take charge of liberated Africans. 

" I perceive that the Baltimore benevolence has imposed on tlie colonists aiio- 
tlier debt of gratitude. Heaven rewar<l t!ie '' unwearied well-doing" wl)ich has 
characterized so many, especially of the pious ladies of that city. Please to re- 
member nie most cordially to such as I have the happiness to know. By such 
exertions, aided by the praj'ers which I believe accompanied them, has the colony 
at length obtained a firm footing. An asylum is prepared for the degraded sons 
of Africa. An opening is made for the eflectual introduction of the Gospel 
among the native tribes. A principal objection to the emancipation of slaves in 
America is obviated. The annihilation of the slave trade along an extensive 
line of coast, ever famous for tiiis guiliy traffic, is secured — and whatever bene- 
fits are destined to result fron) the colonization of Africa, may be referred to the 
liberality of Baitiniore more than to any otiu-r town or district in the United 
States, " Laus til)i Domino." But it is a pleasure and a duty to recognise the 
instruments by which he worked. Much of the labour of the colonists has been 
expended on works of defence : they are now nearly completed, and agriculture 
will, in future, engross the industry of tiie people. The rainy season commenced 
about the 20th of May ; but the heaviest rains are yet behind. Why, my dear 
sir, arc not missionaries sent ? I can only assm-eyoii, in one word, that a be'.- 
ter opening exists not in the world, and where they be more needed'." 



Id 

Atier a concise siccount of the disease wiiicii prevaiied anioui; 
the emigranls wIjo went out in the Oswego, Dr. Ayres remarks, 
under date of July 22d : 

" After I was taken down and could not visit the sick, I cannot sjirak in tor. 
high teims of the useful txeitioiis of tlie Rev. Lot Caiej'. Ho three times a, day 
visited the sick, biought ine an account ol theii slate, leceived my prescriptions, 
and attended to the administciiiig of tlie nirflicine. To liis great exertions we 
arc all iniirli indebted. On landing, tlie Afw-England emigrants took lodging; 
whcrevei they could find room to stow in. When they became sick, they were 
strewed over the flooi with nothing under them but mats, and many nf then» 
drenched witii rain every day. Under these circimistances we have been favour- 
ed with losing but eight — five adults and three children. Among the deaths I 
have to lament tliat of Isaiah Preston, a young man of great promise. 

"Our first attention was directed to the building of houses. The rains, and 
other interruptions from sickness, &c. have, as yet, prevented the accomplish- 
ment of this object. I hope wo shall shortly have our houses finished ; when 
that is done, I shall introduce an entire new mode of procedure. Their lots will 
be survej'ed to tlicm, and each one go to work for himself. 1 have set the first of 
ZVovembcr for the time that all rations will cease to be delivered, except to inva- 
lids. There are a number of those who must remain at tlie charge of the so- 
ciety. 

" It is my intention, when the lots are divided ofl'to the people, to allow theni 
half their time to labour on their lots. The remaining half, they will be liable to 
be called to public labour. 

" As soon as the houses are finished, and the lots app-opriated to the individu- 
als, it is my intention to put in practice the plan which has ever been nearest my 
heart in the project of colonizing, viz : all male minors who ha.\'h no guardian in 
the colony, to be classed with captured Africans. They are to have a house 
built for the occasion. The Rev. Lot Carey has consented to take charge of 
them for the present. They will be called up at five in the morning, and attend 
prayers; be ready to repair to business at sunrise, work until 8 A. I\I.; breakfast 
at 9, repair to work until 11 ; then attend school until half past 12; adjourn for 
recreation until half past 2 — tiieir labour to be always subject to my or(!er. They 
will be employed principally in clearing and cultivating a plantation in the best 
manner. We stand most in need of tools of many descriptions. I hope soon to 
be able to give the society more cheering accounts of our proceedings in this 
r|uarter ; but it is }'et in the bosom of futurity, and I know not what trials and 
obstacles it may please the Almighty to lay in our way. My health is daily 
gaining; I can now be up iialf the day. 

'• I have the honour to be, &c. 

''E. AYRKS 

•'10° Never send another expedition without a Missionary.'' 

Extracts from Mr. Asbmun's letter, dated Monrovia, July 2]. 
1823. 

" Yon will expect but a brief communication irnm iis hy tiiis conveyance, the 
Oswego not having sailed two weeks when the packet arrived. .Since her depar- 
ture wc have only built a few houses — enclosed and planted n fi-w lots — finished 
a connnoilious storeroom to receive the goods sent out per the Fidelity, by the 
.\frican Company. 

*' Five additional emigrants, including one lad of 12, also arrived by the 
jiackct. The schooner is now nearly unloaded, without any serious accident, 
and will sail in a very short time. 1 am sorry to state, that Captain Thornton, 
and some of the crew, have been slightly touched with the fever The establish- 
ment «)f the packet line will be the making of the colony. By the return of the 
packet, several of the settlers go home for their families and property. All pay 
their passage, ami leave bonds for reimbursing the expenses already incurred by 
the society on their account. One of these, a Mr. Waring, from Petersburg, with 
12,000 dollars, will call on you in Washington. It is his iiiiiiuion to fit nut a 
vcsel villi rohmists from Pelersbnr':. 



•' I hiivi! (leteniiinod to let no opportunity pa^s without liuuibly but ciiriiesiiv 
representing to the lioartl, and every Uifluentiiil correspondent 1 have in America. 
the spiritual and moral necessities of your colonists. A missionary, and two 
schoolmasters, with a female teacher, are needed beyond measure. They ought, 
certainly, all to be white. The survivors are, to an individual, nearly recover- 
ed. Yon will be sorry to hear of the death of Abel Herd, the Asiatic traveller. 
He scarcely conniienced his career of observation, before he imbibed the seeds of 
a mortal fever, which carried him off in eight days. He had imprudently dieted 
himself to an invalid on the passage. His inipjitience to begin his observations 
could not be restrained. As soon as he could fit himself out, his zeal carried him, 
contrary to the injunctions of Dr. Ayres and my own remonstrances, into the in- 
terior. He spent five days in exploring the St. PauPs — wet by night and day, 
and breatliing nothing but an atraospiiere tainted witli the eflluvi.a of manp^rore 
vvud. He became sick, and had not a particle of animal vigour to resist the at- 
tack. He returned to the colony, rei)orted his observations, aud in two days 
expired. Had he lived, and succeeded according to his plan, a most valuable 
addition of African geography would have been given to the world. 

" The rains set in about the 13th of May. They have not yet provetl very 
severe ; but we are seldom a night or day without a considerable fall of water. 

'• Barracks, or a lange of houses built and covered partly in the native style, 
are nearl)' completed for our liberated captives. The poor fellows have hardly 
had justice done them hitherto. It is proposed to place over them the Rev. Lot 
Carey, to keep them mucli to themselves, and let them cultivate land enough to 
employ a good share of their leisure. In a short time they will, I believe, not 
only support themselves, but always have on hand a provision for the subsist- 
ence of future shipments of the same class. 

" Our last accounts from America filled us with hope in relation to the future 
prospects of the societj' at home. There were evident symptoms in the disposition 
of the American public to rub open their eyes on the subject. They will, I be- 
lieve, sir, come on as fast as perhaps tiie good of the colony shall require. It is 
not desirable, at present, that more than three or four shipments of sixty persons 
be made in the j'ear. Let one hundred families be well settled, with a good 
house and perfectly improved lot to each, in town, and a plantation without, 
well cultivated. Let a hospital, warehouse, and temporary receptacle for new 
comers, be prepared — and the wheels of the machine, its schools, courts, &c. 
get a good momentum on them, in a proper direction, and, sir, you may throw 
in new settlers as fast as your funds will possibly admit. If we live to witness 
the progress of tilings here two years hence, I believe all this and more will be 
realized. The last Saturday in every month is court-day. One has occurred, 
and we have had one trial by jury. It was conducted with great propriety, and 
the verdict strictly according to evidence. It was a criminal prosemition. For 
the particulars, see the journal.'' 

From the Js'ational InieUigciiccr. 

Of the African Colony. — The subjoined extract is part of a letter from 
Rev. Colston M, Waring, a coloured preacher of great respectability, from Pe- 
tersburg, in Virginia, who recently took passage to Cape Montserado in the 
Oswego, and returned in tiie Fidelity. This man, we are informed, was recom- 
mended to tiie Colonization Society as a person of tried worth and piety, by the 
Rev. Dr. Uice, of Richmond, and is spoken of in the highest terms by Dr. Ayres, 
in his recent communications. We may, therefore, depend upon his testimony. 
He is a man of considerable property ; has a family; has been to Africa in a 
sickly season ; and is now ready to venture all, and to persuade others to do 
the same, on the success of the enterprise in whicli the Colonization Society are 
engaged. 

"When I left the United States, T promised to write you from Alrica ; but, by 
the sudden sailing of the Oswego, and iny being sick at the time of the sailing, I 
was unwillingly deprived of that pleasure. As I have now arrived in my native 
land, I consider it my indispensable duty to give you my views of the land of 
my ancestors. 

" Instead of finding Africa a sandy and barren waste, I found the whole 
country clothed with verdure, and stocked with forest trees of large growtli. 1 
saw cattle, sheep, goat£, hogs, poultry, and fruit, in abundance. In fine, lean 
Truly say, 1 think Africa as healthy, as productive, and as beautiful a rmmtv 



12 

,:s Ui.y 111 me woriii. I i.miul all the people in good licaltii, aim appareiiuy iia;.- 
py. Mr. Willi.'uns rctiirneil with mt-, and I cannot express the efl"e( t our arrival 
has produrcd on the minds of the pi opU-. All seem in favour of the scheme. 
The coloured people are fired with zeal in the caiisi^ Last Monday evening up- 
wards of one humlred gave in their names for the next expedition. It is all im- 
portant to know when a vessel will sa>l, and whether that vessel will touch at 
ibis place for emigrants. I am anxious to know, myself, as I shall immediately 
close my affairs, and take my family with me. I shall go to Richmond, in a few 
days, to satisfy the minds of ilic peojile, and ascertain the number disposed to 
emigrate." 

Such are the present prospects of the colony. It is established, 
flourishing, and in peace with the surrounding tribes. Many of 
these tribes already rejoice at its settlement, and have requested 
that their sons may be received into tlie colony, to learn mechan- 
ical arts. The colony has received several, the sons of head 
men, but has been obliijed to refuse others, for ^vant of accommo- 
dations. 

Thus has the second colony for Africans actually commenced. 
The first was Sierre Leone, which now can boast of far greater 
prosperity and population than any one of the old United States at 
the same length of time after its settlement. The second, Libe- 
ria, not having experienced half the disasters of Sierra Leone, 
having her experience to guidf it, and begun under much better 
advantages, we may safely conclude will, in much less time, 
reach the same prosperity. The settlement in Sherbro was but a 
'• temporary shelter," though it was fatal to several of the first 
colonists — yet not so much so as is generally believed. Of 8S, 
but 21 died. " It may be proper," says the fourth report of the 
Parent Society, " here to correct what we observe to be a very 
common but mistaken impression, that this location of the people 
at Campelar, in Sherbro, was the one selected to be purchased 
for their permanent settlement ; w^hereas it was only taken as a 
temporary shelter, till they could get tiie land on the Bagroo, 
which is high and healthy, abounds in good water, and where the 
settlement was designed to be located." But had these deaths 
occurred in the chosen locaticn of the colony, and had they been 
more numerous, even to half the colonists, it would not have been 
u valid reason for relinquishing the project ; because such reason- 
ing would have prevented the settlement and all the present ad- 
vantages of our own country. The effect which these deaths have 
produced on the public mind, has been far too great and depressing, 
considering how many thousands have fallen victims to the disease 
and hardships th;it have been unavoidable in the seltloinent of our 
own rountry. F>ut our countrymen have gone forward, notwith- 



standing disasters and hardships, to convert the wilderness into 
the fruitful field. The English friends of Africa have not de- 
sponded in consequence of similar disasters. Look at Grenville 
Sharp, and the society under whose patronage Sierra Leone is 
flourishing, to tho admiration of its friends. From the first this 
colony has suffered by the deaths of its active agents and mission- 
aries. In 1819 no less than five died. Their twentieth report, 
for 1819 and 1820, shows that they did not therefore remit their 
exertions for Africa. 

" On these recent losses, the Committee iiave pleasure in subjoining an extract 
from Mr. NyLuider's coninumications : 

" The accounts of so many deaths among us, through the last severe rainy 
season, must certainly be an additional trial of the faith and courage of the 
Committee : but be not discouraged, nor be ye dismayed, for it is the Lord's 
battles that we are fighting, and we are conquering even when falling. Only 
send us a fresh supply of troops for this holy war, for the increase and enlarge- 
ment of the kingdom of Christ. 

** It is not our part, indeed, your Committee would add, to scrutinize with 
anxiety into the purposes of Divine Providence in the withdrawing of these la- 
bourers from such a field : ''it is enough to know," as has been well observed in 
a report of one of the Society's Associations, " that they died in peace — confiding 
in the wisdom and goodness of that Lord, to whom all things are committed in 
this world and the world to come — leaving their last testimony to the truth of 
those immortal hopes whicli they had gone to proclaim to a people in darkness." 
" I believe,"' says a surviving brollier, " I spenk the feelings of most of our re- 
maining few, when I say, that we are not disheartened, but encouraged : and 
if we are so who stand injeopanlij every ftovr, you will not do well to be cast 
down. We are few and weak. Send us faithful and zealous men !" 

'* Several schoolmastets and schoolmistresses being under preparation to ac- 
companj' Mr. Johnson on his voyage back to Sierra Leone, when the intelligence 
sf these losses arrived, they were not deterred thereby from their purpose, but 
felt an additional reason for persevering therein, trusting in the name of the 
Lord." 

Recently five of the missionaries, with many others, have been 
cut off by yellow fever at Sierra Leone ; and what is the effect 
on English philanthropists and Christians? Do they say, we will 
send no more ? The following, from the " Christian Guardian," 
in relation to this afflictive event, shows that even the deaths of 
the most valued men, their personal friends and fellow-labourers, 
do not lead them to conclude it wrong to send more to the same 
post of danger, or to hesitate in prosecuting the same work. They 
view it rather as a call to increased exertions for the same objects. 
" Under such distressing dispensations, they ask, What shall 
we say ? Surely it becomes us to adopt the language of our ado- 
rable Redeemer : ' The harvest truly is great, but the labourers 
are few ; pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he 
would send forth more labourers.' The vacancies that have oc- 
curred in the military and mercantile departments of Sierra Leone 
will be immediately filled up by those who are anxious for worldly 



14 

honours and advantages. Surely tliose ulio are looking earnestlv 
lor that crown which tlie Lord h;is laid up for his people in that 
day, should not hv. discouraged, but should come lbr»\ard, and be, 
us it were, baptized for the dtad — should occupy the places of 
thosu who are l;dk*n, and enrntstly prepare, that they also may 
be Jolluwers of Iho^e who, through t.iili) and patience, inherit the 
promises. These events, however, should not only call the friends 
of missions to fervtiit prayer and personal devotion, but should 
also stimulate them to increasing liberality." So they feel now. 
and so they have always acted. 

Is it not then a little surprising, that the deaths in our colony, 
nhich it is well known resulted from the unavoidable evils of a 
distant new settlement, should have struck such a damp upon 
American philanthropy ?^-should have led so many to think it a 
hopeless work we have begun at Montserado, and that it ought to 
be relinquished ? Such despondency is not of that faith which 
counts not life dear. Then will there be reason for despondency, 
when none can be found to take the places of the fallen. But they 
are found, and will be found, as they are needed. We weep at 
the deaths that fever has inflicted on our gallant navy at Key 
West. But should we not feel it would be far greater reason for 
weeping, if our navy should refuse to occupy again that post of 
danger at the same call, or if our government should refuse to 
send them? Let us recollect, it is a piracy of human blood, that 
colonizing in Africa will prevent, as well as promote other most 
important objects. 



(B.) 



Facts in relation to tJtexi'illingncys of the Coloured People to migrate 
to Africa, and the fcasibilitij nf the project. 
There is a strong natural attachment to the land of their fathers 
awakened in the boscms of all who become well informed. This 
attachment to Africa Faul CufiVc felt and thousands of others have 
felt it. As soon as they rise from their ignorance high enough to 
sec their degradation, and discover whence they came, and where 
their fithers dwelt, they anxiously seek to reach its shores. The 
following facts are full on this point. 

'•Of th« whole miinbcr of free lilacks. in Nova Scotia, amounting to very near 
tweWc hundred, to \v)ioni the lininanc Clitrkfon Bddressod hiinsclf in 1792. but 



10 

four ortivc individuals refused to eml)aik with him lor Sierra Ltone. Almost all 
those in London yielded, al)out the same period, to this natural bias. 

"It is but a few years since Capi. Paul Cuflne carried thirty-eight fiom Bos- 
ton to Sierra Leone, chiefly at his own expense ; and in a letter, written after 
this voyage, he declares, th.it he, could have obtained the consent of the great- 
er part of the free people of colour in that city and its vicinity, to remove to 
Africa. And let it not be foigotten, that, of those, whom he actually carried, 
there was not one disposed to return with him, to America. Nor should it cease 
to be remembered, that this generous and eulighiened African, in the last mo- 
ments, as through the last years of his meritorious life, recommended coloniza- 
tion in Africa to his degraded countrymen here. To this autliority, shouUi be 
added many others, but especially that of Kizell, the guide and friend of the 
missionaries. Mills and Burgess, who like Capt. Cuffee, knew America, as well 
as, and Africa much better, than any of the ojiponentsof the plan of coloniza- 
rion." — Third Report of the Parent isocieli/., p. 2-1. 

The following is an extract of a letter from a free negro^ dated 

Lamott, Illinois Territory, July 13th, 1818. 
"I am a free man of colour, have a family and a large connexion of free 
people of colour residing on the Wabiish, who are all willing to leave America 
whenever the v/ay shall be opened. We love this country and its liberties, if we 
could share an equal right in them ; but our freedom is partial, and we have no 
hope that it ever will be otherwise here ; therefoie we had rather be gone, though 
we should suffer hunger and nakedness for years. Your honour may be assured 
that nothing shall be lacking on our part in complying with whatever provision 
shall be made by the United States, whether it be to go to Africa or some other 
place ; we shall hold ourselves in readiness, praying that God (who made man 
free in the beginning, and who by his kind providence has broken the yoke from 
every white American,) would inspire the heart of every true son of liberty with 
zeal and pity, to open the door of freedom for us also. 

I am, &,c. 

ABRAHAM CAMP. 
Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. 

Secretary of the Colonization Society of the U. S. \Ibid. p. 124. 

It is also a fact, that the society has found no difficulty in ob- 
taining colonists of good character : seventy-nine offered them- 
selves in a body in New- York, in 18! 8 ; the only difficulty has 
been in selection. What would be the feeling generally, were a 
few more to return with favourable reports from the colony, is 
seen by the preceding letter of Mr. Waring. There can be no 
doubt, that, under the powerful motives of both liberty and pro- 
perty, they will be seen, when once a fair prospect of finding a 
home of freedom and equal rights and comfortable living, is pre- 
sented to them, by thousands, urging their way through every ob- 
stacle to the inviting land of their fathers — a land abounding with 
valuable t; opical productions, where the cotton shrub and sugar 
cane grow spontaneously, and may become to them in commerce 
what they are to the southern states and the West Indies. That 
such prospects are now in part presented them, and will be to 
their fullest extent, none doubt, who have had correct informa- 
tion. If the people of the Eastern states, to say nothing of the 
ten thousands of Europeans, " who have for ever abandoned their 



10 

uaialsuii," can bo induced, for the single coiisideraUun oi jnupei 
ly, to meet all llu- hardships and disaslers of now settlements in 
the western forests, where, in very many inslance«;, greater ca- 
Itimilies, from change of climate, privations, and disease, have be- 
fallen them, than the African colony has yet experienced, from 
^vhal principle shall we conclude that the same motive, connected 
with one still more powerful, liberty, will not induce the coloured 
people to seek property, and freedom too, without which proper- 
ty is worthless, in Africa ? It is next to selt-evident, that a judi- 
cious management of colonization will so induce them to emigrate, 
that in a very few years all the free people of colour, and a great 
mass of the slaves, will have left our country, except the aged, 
and this at a small expense in proportion to the magnitude of the 
object. 

" Wa)'S iind moans (says the Fourth Report of tlie Parent Society, p. 63, G4,) 
can be supplied to effectuate tiie objects of our Society. And why not ? Has not 
tlie colony of Sierra Leonu been successfully establii^lle(l ? Were not the colonies 
of our own country established under more unfavourable auspices .' Could Xerxes 
transport five millions of s^ouls, with a hostile design, to an immense distance, by 
an expensive land transportation ; and CHnuot we transport a much smaller num- 
ber, under the banners of philanthropy, by water, a method of trnnsportation far 
more cheap and expctlitious ? In the course of twenty-five years 1,500,000 slaves 
have been exported fiom Africa. And cannot we restore an equal immber in the 
same time .'' Can avarice and iniquity effect more than humanity and justice ? 

"It is undoubtedly desirable gradually to emancipate and colonize the whole 
coloured population of the United States. If it be expedient to colonize the whole, 
it is also expedient to colonize a part ; therefore in effecting onlj' the latter, we 
deserve the patronage of the public. We shall attempt, however, to demonstrate 
the practicability of accomplishing the whole object. 

" Captain Paul Cuffee, fiom actual expoiimcnt, estimated the expense of trans- 
porting free persons of colour to Africa, at GO dollars each. The whole number 
of blacks, bond and free, may be estimated at 1,900,000, and the annual in- 
crease at 58,000. An annual appropriation of five millions of dollars would be 
adequate to traiifporl every year at GO dollars each, 83,338, which is 25,000 more 
than the increase. Thus by sending out every year 25,000 more than the increase, 
we would in forty years export the whole number. This calculation is strictly 
accurate, making due allow ance for the annual diminution of the increase," — 
I This estimate of annual increase is too great : by the last census the whole 
number of blacks was 1,764,832, making the annual increase '17,000.j "The 
whole number of free persons of colour in the United Slates amounted in 1810, 
to 136,446. Admitting 23,0U0 of this number to be able to transport themselves, 
the residue agreeably to the foregoing process, might all be trans()orted in two 
years ! 

" It is obvious that the estimate of tlie expense of transporting the whole black 
population would be lessened at least one tliird, were we to make a fair deduc- 
tion for all those who would be able, from the ordinary causes applicable to emi- 
gration, to defray their own expenses. But we are willing to concede every 
tiling lu our adveriiurius, confident of our ability to defeat litem upon their own 
data. 



" But it is said the appropriation of five millions per onnum is too enormous. 
'I'o this wc reply, tl at the evil to be u incdicd is sliU nioic eiioiinuus, and the 
visi resources of o ir country, continually augmenting, would fully justify an 
cxpunve essential I'l her own safely and welfare. To some persons fifteen mil- 
liunK appeared a gieat price for the purchase of Louisiana ; and yet by giving 
that piiie, wc probably escaped a war which would have cost us one hundred 
millions, besides the loss of valuable lives. Thus a liberal expenditure mar 
••vpntnally become a national «aviiip. 



17 

'' But aitlioUi»li Uie nominal expense would he consiilerabie, our rouniiy would 
n reality lose nothing : on the contrary, the national wealth would be greatly 
iicreascd." 

This is evident, because it is now conceded, that slave-labour 
s dearer than free labour ; because land in slave-states is less 
t'aluable than in the other, though of the same quality ; and be- 
:ause a population that adds nothing to the national strength, 
(vhether they are bond or free, but diminishes it, would be re- 
moved."'^ 

But this estimate of expenses is far too high. It is not neces- 
sary to transport the annual increase. It is only requisite to re- 
move a certain class of population, (and this class might be induced 
:o migrate, by offering greater advantages to such, especially to 
females,) and all but a few aged might be removed in a compara- 
tively short time. The following, published in the New-York 
Statesman, must be satisfactory to every one who will examine. 

" Emigrants usually consist of young people. Let the society aid none but 
juch, and equal numbers of males and females ; females between the ages of 18 
md 28 years, males between 20 and 30 years. As the children of such parents 
ivould all be young, most of them under three years, and as when under that 
ige their removal would cost but little with their parents, such children need not 
ie estimated. Let the society aid 6000 annually of this class, between 18 and 
?0 years of age, and the population at the end of ten years will be, making all 
iUowances, at least 100,000 less than it would have been, had none been re- 
noved. This will appear, if we consider how large a portion of the increase 
,vill spring from this class. Allowing for deaths, it would be a low estimate to 
;ay their numbers would double in the time.t But estimating their increase only 
It two-thirds their number, And it will amount to 100,000 in ten years. By the 
ast census, the number of free people of colour was 233,398, and the increase 
Trom 1810, is a little less than 47,000. At the same rate of increase, the number 
n 1830, will be some less than 293,000, if none are removed. Call it 293,000, 
ind suppose the 6000 a year to be removed, and deduct the number with their 
estimated increase, estimated at 100,000, and it leaves 193,000. At the same 
:ate of increase, and the same deduction the next ten years, the number will be 

* One ctriking evidence of the injury of this population to our country, is 
•een in the fact, that our prisons are fdled with coloured culprits. Hodgson, in 
iiis letter to Say, observes : " Travellers in America find the prisons in the slave- 
states filled with slaves, (as I did almost universally)." The prisons of this 
:ity exhibit the fact of six blacks to one white, in proportion to the white and 
ulack population of the city. And the state prison, the proportion of eleven to 
one white, in proportion to the population of the state. Bridewell contains 6G 
whites and 38 blacks ; tlie state prison contains 455 whitos, and 151 blacks : 
more than a fourth are blacks. At the penitentiary the proportion is supposed 
to be the same, no distinction being observed between black and white, the dis- 
tinct numbers of each could not be obtained. 

Hodgson also remarks, (another evidence well known to all who have ob- 
served,) that " in passing from a free to a slave-state in America, the change is 
instantly visible, even to the most careless eye, and nature seems to drooj) and 
sicken under the withering influence of slavery." 

t Suppose these 6000 to be parents, and that 1500 children are born annual- 
ly, and that parents and ciiildrendie annually at the rate of one out of forty : 
and there will be remaining, at the end often years, of the sixty thousand pa- 
rents and their children, upwards of 121,000. It is fherpfore too low to rail it 
lOO.OOO. niakin<t all allowances. 



IS 

liCjUOU 111 18'iO : 80,000 iii ISoO, beiiif; less tliaii ti\e iiuinber vvluch wouin be it- 
movcd tlic ncxlten j-ears ; the removing GOOD a year amounting to tiie same us 
ihe rcraova", of 100.000 once in ten years. All, tliereforc, but the aged, would be 
removed in !e.-s tlian loiiy j'ears. But tlie rate ol' increase of those who remain 
after the first ten years, considering the class that is reniovci.), woidcl be less by 
considerable, the next tun; so that ahhough lour years aie nearly gone since 
the fust census, iftlie work were commenced this year, they would all be re- 
moved within forty years. 

The expense, if it were all met l)y the society, and- they were removed to 
.Africa, would not exceed 360,000 dollars annually, and would probalily be 
less. But as many miglit be removed to Hayti, as one-fifth would defray their 
i>wn expense, the expense would be greatly reduced. I have put the rate of ex- 
pense the same as Paul Cuffee estimated it, who carried out the first colonists 
that left our country for Africa. Of 38 whom he carried out, 8 bore their own 
expenses which is more than one-fiftii, and he \vrote Mr. Mills that they could 
be carried out for §60 each. 

Vessels of 300 tons burthen might be fitted up so as to transport comfortably 
"250, and would ma!;e with ease two voyages in a year. But we will suppose 
■hey make two trips the year and transport only 200 at a time, it would require 
but 15 vessels tn be employed. The yearly expense of these vessels for charter 
and stores for the 200 passentrcrs, allowing the passage out to be six weeks, will 
1)0 $102,000, leaving .5168,000 to mett other expenses. Vessels of 300 tons can 
iie chartered in this port, to make a \oyagu to Afiicu and back, all expenses of 
'he crew and their sup]ilies includKl, for ;53500 10.(^4500. Say the cost of ves- 
sel is $4000, the supplies ne.essary for -00 passengers, estimated at ^2 a week 
each for six weeks' voyage, §.i400, tlie co;t of one voyage, will be $6400 ; two 
'.■oyngcs $12,800; making tiic expense of transportinp: the GOOO in 15 vessels $19-, 
000. But this expense would be muclr reduced by freight back, or by chartering 
»i;e vessels onl}' for the outward voya;'c, and by engaging witlr the same owner 
for several voyages. The expense would be much diminished as the colony in- 
creased and trade commenced and increased between this and the colony. 
Coloured people too couid be employed as transporters, and w ould be able to do 
it at a less rate than whites, as they have little share in other connnerce. \Vheii 
tp.e colony had become established and inviting, the spirit of emigration among 
them would be aroused, and they ■i\oidd seek out new places to settle ; such as 
Sierra Leone, the south of Africa and the cast, Madagascar, Hayti, and Co- 
lumbia for mulaitoes. Thousands would go yearly to these various places — 
thousands would be seen seeking employment to gain the means of emigrating, 
impelled to it by the powerful motives of liberty and property. It is only neces- 
sary for a few of their own colour, in whom they can confide, to return to them 
from some colony or country, with the report of having found a>i inviting land 
of equality and romfortable livelihood ; and all this spirit of emigration would 
iie aroused, all tiiis would be seen. This is proved by the fact, that when Paul 
Cuffee returned, at least two thousand, in the vicinity of Boston, were desirous 
to have him carry them out to Sierra Leone ; it is confirmed also, by the recent 
lact, that 100 innnediately otfered their names to go to Mesurado, after Mr. 
Waring returned in August at Petersburg, Virginia : and corroborated still fur- 
'hcr by the fact, that the Society, lotwithstanding all the disasters of their co- 
lony, have found no difticulty in obtaining colonists. 

How soon then and how easy might a degraded people be exalted to the 
rights of men. a growing empire be firunded in Africa, Africa receive the blessings 
of civilization and Christianity, and be delivered from the horrid barbarities of 
the slave trad.?, and our own country from an unhappy race, neither bond nor 
free, who though among us are not of us, and instead of being a source of 
btrcngtli to the nation, enfeeble and endanger it. How soon niiglit all this be 
tlone, if the nation would but listen to the voice of interest and liumanitj', aii<I 
r ornmence the work !" 

Let tlie same process be adopted witii the whole black popula- 
;ion, and remove 30,000 yearly, and the whole will be removed 
within .^0 years, allowing the rate of increase to diminish one per 
•.orit. every ten year?, which it certainly would, considering the 



II' 

class llial IS removed. And the yearly expense, if wholly borne 
by the society, will not exceed one million eight hundred 
THOUSAND DOLLARS. But it wovild be diminished about one-fifth 
by what the emigrants would furnish themselves, and would bo 
furnished them by owners of slaves who were colonized. That 
is, it would cost the nation less than one and a half millions to 
deliver itself from an evil that forebodes to be worse to our nation 
hereafter than British oppression was before the revolution, and 
to gain a glory more triumphant than that of our independence, as 
it would be less selfish in its character. And it can be gained 
without paying the bitterest part of the price, in conflict and blood. 
Let then the "debasing legacy of our ancestors immortalize their 
■posterity''' of this age, by its removal. 

We admire the gallant Greeks. We rejoice at their success. 
We hope they will soon gain that liberty, to purchase which the 
blood of thousands, and years of conflict and war, they and we 
think, are not too dear a price. They have long been in bond- 
age, and the time of their deliverance, we trust, is corae. But 
will we not be consistent ? Will we approve in them what we 
would not approve in a degraded population of our own nation ? 
We too, like the Turks, are oppressing a hapless race. By our na- 
tional compact, the constitution adopted by the north as well as the 
south, we are doing it. By public feeling and common consent of alL 
north as well as souths we hold them in degradation, and the freedom 
we give a few, gives them no release from being despised and treated 
%vith contempt. Though it may be mitigated, still it is bondage, in 
which we hold them. But we did not bring them into this state. 
It is our " debasing inheritance." Neither did the present Turks 
bring bondage upon the Greeks. But we think it is right they 
should feel the vengeance of an injured people breaking the yoke 
of oppression. Let us beware lest another rejoice over our na- 
tion, as we do at the losses of the Turks. There is but one way 
to prevent it. Let our nation then perform a deed more noble 
than any nation has yet boasted. Let us not leave it to our un- 
happy bondsmen to wrest from us their liberty at the point of the 
bayonet. Let us nobly give it them, give it so that the boon will 
be worth accepting. This we cannot do but by colonization. 
We must do it so, or the glory of the noblest deed a nation can 
perform, will never pour its bright efi'ulgence on onv future 
history. 



20 



CLIMATE. 

The loliowing facts and opinions in relation to tlie climate, arc 
^vorthy of tlie att-^ntion of those who l)ave feared it as an insur- 
mountable obstacle. The climate did not destroy the eleven hun- 
dred blacks removed from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone ; nor has 
it destroyed those who have gone to our colony : on the con- 
trar}', most of them have been there two years, and enjoy usual 
health. 

Mr. Biirgcfs ill his Aildrc;?, pabliblicil by ihe Paiciu Society, Nov. 1S18, says. 
''Africa lias iiotliing in its climate todistinguisii it from any other tropical region. 
The leiiiperalurc is very uniform ; not more hot than is often known in the 
United States, and is conducive to the health of the natives of the country. 
If tiie country were cleared and culiiviited, there is no reason to doubt that 
it miglit be-visited by foreigners with as much safety as South America, or the 
Last or West Indies," and confirms his own view by these extracts : 

"Tliose who arc acquainted with the soil and climate of the Gold Coast, and 
who have an etiual knowledge of the West Indies, will, doubtless, agree in this 
opinion, that the Gold Coast has the advantage of the West India islands, not 
only iu soil and climate, but in seasons. — J^Icredilh^s Gold Coast, p. 3, Introduc.'^ 

" It will be found that on the ef[uaior, and about five or six degrees on either 
side of it, are the most temperate parts of tropical Africa. The sun has less 
power there than in more northerly or southerly situations, because he is more 
obscured throughout the year. At Tuutumquerry, Winnebah, and Accra, coun- 
tries situated cast of Cape Coast, the heat has been very seldom known to ex- 
ceed 87 degrees, and the quicksilver in Fahrenheit's thermometer lias been ob- 
served as low as 74"^ at Winnebah, in .Tune, July, August, and the greater part of 
September, and not higlier than 73 degrees. Hence the latitude of a place is no 
criterion to go by, as to tlie heat of its climate. Experience informs us, that the 
(■limaie of tropical countries vary, in proportion to their natural ([ualities, and 
to the extent cuUivaiioa is cairied on. High lanils also contribute to a tempera- 
ture of air, Sac. — Idem. p. 2, 3."' 

-'I think it would not admit of a doubt, that if a tract of land in Guinea was 
well improved as the island Barbadoes, and as perfectly free from trees, under- 
wood, marshes, &c. the air would be rendered equally healthful there, as in 
iliat pleasant West India island. — Doctor Lind on hot climates, in .Mcredith''s 
Gold Coast of Africa, p. 40."— [Address, p. 52, 53.1 

Extract of a letter from R. F. Stockton, Esq. to the Secretary of the Society, dated 
U. S. Schooner Alligator, Boston, July 25, 1821. 
•• We iiave had an interesting cruise on the Coast, from the Shoals of the 
Great River to Cape I'almas : it was during the most unhealthy season, and 
under circumstances not the most flattering. Being in a very small vessel, we 
were often exposed to heavy rains, and occasionally encountered great fatigue. 
A'otwithstanding which, we have returned in good hcalili, only regrettin;: that 
our cruise was so short, and that wo accomplished so little of that which wc 
promised ourselves. We had the fever on board, but in every instance it yield- 
ed to the skill of our surgeon, John W. I'earce, and his assistant T. W. Wicsen- 
thal, to whose abilities and perseveraiu-e we all, in common gratitude, owe our 
thanks. Under these circumstanv.es, I ain bound to believe (my conclusions 
however are deduceii I'loin intpressiuns rather than from unalterable opinions) 
tiittt the horror for that const, the iuic and cry nl)out the African fever, and the 
noise about the tornadoes, arc but little el.se than a fable, generated by polic\-, 
listened to because wonderful, and propagated by the interested. As to the cli- 
inalc, it \i true the air is warm, and I think that a constant exposure to the sun 
fnuM be very rlvhiliiaiiii!;. Thf. ih'-rmotnefrical oUs'-rviitions ff this vessel, «'l' 



21 

iiutsliuw tiiat iiie temperature of the air lias ever been above eigiity-nve oegrces 
measured by Fahrenheit's thermometer ; but, as the country is sekloin refreshed 
by a cool invigorating breeze, the heat is more uniform and of longer duration, 
and from ihat cause, I thin!;, arises its pestikMicc, and nut fioin the immediate 
power of the sun. The heat is not beyond bearinj; for a while, but from its con- 
stancy must overcome any human constitution that is unwarily exposed to it 
during any length of time without relief. The fever, I think, may be more 
readily avoided, and if taken is not so dangerous, and may be more easily de- 
stroyed than thativiiicli infests many places in our own country. The toinadoes, 
as 1 saw and felt them, are inconsideiable and haimless, in comparison with 
stiualls met with on parts of the American coast at particular seasons of the year. 
We may have been particulaily favoured, and it is possible that all the dangers 
which persons are led to apprehend, do ordinal ily possess that country. But I 
can assure you, the fever has not assumed a living shape ; the winds are not 
saturated with pestilence ; that even on the coast of Africa, oxygen forms a com- 
ponent part of the atmosplieric air, and to inhale it is not certain death. We 
(for I think I am speaking the sentiments of my companions) respired as freely 
and enjoyed generally as good health as any country couki linve supplied us 
with. After examination and reflection, I honestly think that tlie climate pre- 
sents all those obstacles whicli are the natural ))ioductions of a tropical soil un- 
cleared and uncultivated, but that they will yield to proper precautions ; and 
that nothing can prevent the consummation oi your wishes but limited means, 
bad counsels, or feeble efforts. I wish you every success : I am more and more 
persuaded of the usefulness of your society : [ believe it will be instrumental to 
ameliorate the condition of Africa. The unfeeling clan of Slave-Traders are 
still, and more exullinglij than ever, draining " the dearest veins" of that coun- 
try. Is such to continue to be their fate f — And will not Christendom put an 
end to it .'' Are they to be torn from their homes, from their friendships, from 
their forefathers' graves, while the vultures of the world are proclaiming/reerfonj, 
a.nd [ormhig coalitions for Us securiisj -^ May the Father of Mercies take care 
of this oppressed people : and is it too uncharitable to hope that the hour of ven- 
geance is approaching, when the huiricanes will "sweep from the deep" every 
sail that is spread for to unhallowed a purpose. My associates, most of whom 
were ready, (and I sincerely believe it,) to sacrifice on the altar of humanity, 
convenience, coinfort, interest, and health, received encouragement to inform 
themselves on this subject : they were highly competent to the task, and will 
give, I have no doubt, any information within their knowledge. 

lam. Gentlemen, with great respect, your obedient humble servant, 

R. F. STOCKTON. 
To the Committee from the Society for Colonizing the 

Free People of Colour of the United States. [5th Rep. p. 52.] 

'' Every day I bless anew, says Mr. Ashman, that favouring Providence, which 
eventually led your agents to establish the Settlement on Cape Montserado. Not 
an hour have I spent here without feeling the refreshing and salutary influences 
of a fresh breeze from the ocean. The Settlement can never be without it. When 
comfortable habitations are built, a foreigner would endanger his health by a 
residence here, no more than by spending the same time in sailing down the coast. 
I am confidjnt we neither have experienced nor shall experience, more sickness 
on shore, than we should, lying off the coast. The crew of the brig, although, 
(unfortunately for us) nearly seven miles distant, have suffered at least as much 
as we. — Could a person from America spend one week of the rainy season on this 
coast, on board a ship or ashore, he would find no difficulty as to the great 
cause of fever to new comers. 

" I will only say of the healthiness of Montserado, that no situation in Western 
Africa can be more salubrious. The sea air docs all that can be done for it in 
this climate. One peculiarity is, that the night air is nearly as pure as any other. 
The fevers with which our company has been visited have all been nearly of the 
same type ; quotidian and tertian iniern)ittcnt ; rather of the putrescent than 
inflammatory character ; commonly gentle in degree, and easily subdued by 
remedies. Such has been the character of the sickness, so far. The violent 
symptoms of the Shcrbro fever have not, in a solitary case, manifested them- 
selves."— 6^/i Report of the Parent Society, p. 35. 



li has been objected by some, tluil the coloured people, wiieu 
icmovcd to Africa, would degenerate, aud incorporate with the 
uncivilized natives. This is contrary to tlif history of all nations. 
Even barbarians, by conquering nations more civilized than them- 
selves, have become civilized. Those who go from this country 
immediately find themselves so superior to the natives, that thev 
can exert almost any influence over them. Every motive of in- 
terest, love of superiority, will prompt the colonists to maintain 
their ascendency in civilization, if there were not the higher mo- 
tives of Christianity to preserve them fronj degenerating. But 
surely wc may expect Christianity will produce her happy effects, 
when we see the several denominations are already contributing 
their aid to send instruction with the colonists, several of whom 
are Christians of good standing in different denominations, are 
formed some of them into a church, have received some additions 
the past season by converts in the colony, and are all punctually 
and harmoniously attending upon the public duties of religion. 
They know too that they go from a land most proud of her free 
and exalting institutions. This will stimulate them to imitate our 
national character. The Society too must exert over them a most 
powerful influence, to aid their advancement in every useful art 
and wise institution that shall promote civilization. Facts are 
opposed to this objection. At Sierra Leone, they have not only 
not been disposed to join the natives, but themselves, though no- 
thing but liberated slaves, a little time captured from their native 
homes, have rejoiced at the cruel traffic that brought them to 
Sierra Leone ; and tliey have been joined by several hundreds 
from the surrounding tribes. They are strongly attached to their 
new government, and the natives about them are constantly be- 
coming more and more civilized. At our own colony, though ex- 
posed to severe privations and hardships, they have manifested 
no desire to gain relief by joining the natives, but have the 
strongest attachment to the colony and its government. But an 
evidence that must remove all skepticism, both as to the danger 
of their degenerating or their incapacity to rise in character, and 
manage their own national concerns, is seen in Hayli. To these 
considerations the following, fiom the " Proceedings of the Church 
Missionary Society for Africa and the East," of England, publish- 
rd in 18"0, will be interesting, and encour.iging to the friends of 
humanity. It is under the head " Regent's Town." a town o( 
liberated negroes, begun in 1.". 1:! 



23 

•' Vour Commluci! wni vi'imue lo say, that ulieu imiiigut logetiior at tliit 
:>iace in the year 1813, the Negroes wcie, as on the lirst settling of them in other 
Towns, in the most (leplorable condition. In ISltJ, the Assistant Secretary, 
then on a visit to the Mission, loiind about 1100 Liberated Negroes assembled at 
this spot. Tiicy consisted of pert^ons from ahnosi all the tribes on that jiavi of 
the CcMiiineiit. The efTons of those who had been placed over them, uiidci- the 
vigilant and anxious inspection of tlie Governor, liad meliorated the ••cndition 
of such as bad been ihert for any length of time. Every measure in M'j power 
had been resorted to, for this end, by his Excellency ; ;uid a Church had been 
erected, in preparation for the re|j;idur administiation of Christian Ordinances 
amoni; them. His Excellency felt that a powerful stimulus was wanted, to rouse 
the Ncf'oes to diligence ; and that an energetic principle was required, which 
might haunonize their jarring feelings, and unite iheni as one body. That 
stimulus was found in the sense of duty and {gratitude which Chiistianity inspires; 
and that uniting principle, in the healing spirit of the Gospel. 

"At the desire of the Governor, Mr. Johnson was appointed to the care of 
Regent's Town, in the month of June, 1816. 

" On looking narrowly into the actual condition of the people entrusted to his 
care, Mr. Johnson felt great discouiagement. Natives of twenty-two different 
nations were here collected together ; and a considerable number of them had 
been but recently liberated from the holds of slave vessels : they w ere greatly 
prejudiced against one another, and in a state of continual hostility, with no 
common medium of intercourse but a little broken English. When clothing was 
given to them, they would sell it, or throw it away : it was difficult to induce 
them even to put it on ; and it was not found practicable to introduce it among 
them, till led to it by the example of Mi. Johnson's servant girl. None of them, 
on their first arrival, seemed to live in the state of marriage : some were soon 
afterward married by the late Mr. Butscher ; hut all the blessings of the mar- 
riage-state and of female purity appeared, when Mr. Johnson arrived among 
them, to be quite unknown. In some huts, ten of them were crowded together ; 
and, in others, even fifteen and twenty : many of them were ghastly as skele- 
tons : six or eight sometimes died in one day ; and only six infants were bora 
during the year. Superstition, in various forms, tyrannized over their minds : 
many Devil's Houses sprung up ; and all placed theii security in wearing gree- 
grees. Scarcely any desire of improvement was discernible : for a considerable 
time, there were hardly five or six acres of land brought under cultivation ; and 
some who wished to cultivate the soil, were deterred from doing so by the fear 
of being plundered of the produce. Some would live in the woods, apart from 
society ; and others subsisted by thieving and plunder : they would steal fowls, 
ducks, and pigs, from any who possessed them : in the first week of his residence 
among them, Mr. Johnson lost thirty fowls : they would eat them raw ; and not 
a few of them, particularly those of the Ebo Nation, (he most savage of them 
all, would prefer any kind of refuse-meat to the rations which they received from 
Government. A sick dog had been killed and buried : it was afterv;ards disco- 
vered that some of these people had dug up and made soup of the carcass. 

"But what was the condition of these people when Mr. Johnson left them, for 
a season, after the labour ol three years .'' A full return had been made for the 
wise and benevolent measures of the Governor, and for the unv/earicd labours 
of their Pastor. 

" The eye which beheld the people and tlicir town but a few years before, 
v.'ould now witness a scene that would bespeak the energy of some mighty prin- 
ciple. 

" The Towo itself is laid out with regularity — nineteen streets are formed, 
and are made plain and level, with good roads round the town — a large stone 
Chuvch risos in the midst of the habitations — a Government House, a Par->ouage 
House, a Hospital, School Houses, Store Houses, a Bridge of several arches, 
some Native Dwellings, and other Buildings, all of stone, are either finished or 
on the point of being so. Cut the state of cultivation fuithei manifests the indus- 
try of the people — all are farmers — gardens, fenced in, are attached to every 
dwelling — all the land in the immediate neighbourhood is under cultivation and 
pieces o/ land even to the distance of three miles — tiiere are many rice-fields ; 
and, among the other Vegetables raised for food, are cassadas, plantains, coco, 
yams, coffee, and Indian Corn — of Fruits, they have bananas, oranges, limes, 
pine-apples, ground-nuts, guavas, and papaws — of Animals, there are horses, 
cows, bullocks, sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, and fowls — a daily market is held, 
for the sale of articles ; and, on Saturdays, this market is larje and general. 



Ii lias uceii triiciiLiy saiJ iliai all are Faiinevb ; hut many ol ihcui, besiuc ilu; 
< iiltivation of the sroiinH, liavc learm-il and exercise various trades : 50 of tlierii 
are masons ami bricklayers — 40, carpenleis — 30, sawyers — 30, shiiigle-makers 
— 20, tailors — 4, hhicksniiilis — and '2, hmclicrs. In these various ways, upward 
of 600 of the Negroes niaii tain themselves ; and have heen enabled, in this slioi i 
space of time, by the fruits of thf-ir own pioduclive industry, to relieve from all 
expense, on their personal account, ilini Government to which they pay the most 
grateful allegiance. 

" The appearance and manners of the people have improved in an equal degree. 
They arc all now decently clothed : almost all tlie females have learned to make 
their own clothing — about 400 couple arc married — they were accBStomed to 
spend their nights in dancing and diununiug, after the heathenish fashion of their 
countries : not a drum is now left in the town — in six months, only six deaths 
occurred ; while in three months, forty-two children were born — not an oath 
bad been heard in the town, to Mr Johnson's knowledge, for the last twelve 
months ; nor had any drunkenness lieen witnessed — the attendance on public 
worship is regular and large, three times on the Sunday ; on an average, not 
less than 1200 or 1300 Negroes, while Mr. Johnson's fust congregation amount- 
ed but to nine : at Morning and Evening Daily Prayers, not less than 500 are 
present — the Schools, which opened with 90 Boys and 50 Girls with 36 Adults, 
now contain upward of 500 Scholars." 

"All have abandoned polygamy, greegrees, and Devil-worship. The baptized 
are in the habit of regularly partaking of the Lord's Supper, tniless prevented by 
illness ; and when Mr. Johnson left, in April of last year, the ninnbcr of Com- 
municants amounted to 203." 

If such effects can be produced by Christian instruction, united 
with civilized institutions, on such degraded nati'. cs, what may 
we not most reasonably expect from the people of colour who 
enter the colony with such advantages as those have who go from 
our country, themselves already some instructed, and much ac- 
quainted with the institutions of civilization ? 

In addition, the following particulars, from Mr. Samuel J. Mills" 
journal, kept while in Africa, agent for the Society, printed in 
the second Annual Report of the American Colonization Society, 
together with the account of the present state of Sierra Leone, 
taken from the appendix of Hodgson's Letter to Say, will be most 
satisfactory in favour of colonization. 

Extract from the Journal of Ike late Rev. Samuel John Mills, nritlen while in 

.'Ifrica. 

"Gambia, Friday, 13tli March. 
"At 12 a. M. we anchored m-ar tlic village St. Mary's, situated on Banyan 
Point. In the afternoon we walked about the village. It is an infant settlement, 
commenced only two years ago. The people were cheerful, and generally em- 
ployed in some kind of labour. Some were unlading goods ; some burning shells 
(or lime ; and some at work in thi- carpenters' and smith's shops. We stood 
some time to see a company of soldiers go through the manual exercise. They 
were mostly Africans, abo\e the ordinary stature, well formed, and neatly dress- 
ed. They appeared to be quite expcit and intelligent. The military force of the 
place is about lOO men. A few pieces of cannon, mostly dismounted, are ar- 
langpd aloni; the beach. 'I'liere is no fort or block-house. Notwithstanding the 
exposi:d state of tin.' settlement, there is no fear of assault from lire native tribes 
The number of Ijiropeans is about tliirty, and the population of the village is 
already seven or ei(;ht hundred. Trade is the soul of the colony : this will in- 
I rcnse annually, a:, the trade of the vsiiole river will conrcntrrite here." — Sfcond 
Hnwrt ftfthe Fanvt Snriehi. n. 20. 



I 

V 



" We have h;id much conversation on tUe or<;aniz;tiion and govcnnnont oi'tlic 
proposeti colony. The natives iieud not b^ feared. Tlicy arc not numerous, have 
few arms, timid in disposition, jealous olieacli other, and broken up into small, 
independent, elective governments. Th\re is little reason to fear a general 
combination among them, and their stren Jh would be small if they should com- 
bine together. If the Sierra Leone colony should continue favourable, and throw 
no obstacles in our way, that will keep ,\he native people in awe. Should our 
settlement prosper, it will in two or thr^e years be fully competent to defend 
itself without aid from our country ; and {^i'eviously to that time, a single armed 
sloop or brig, sent to execute the abolition ^aws, would give to our settlements 
perfect security. If the people were troubU;some, fire a big gun out in the bay, 
and they would all fly to the bush, and nol^^an individual be found." — Ibid. p. 38. 

" SierrpiJLeone, Monday, IStliMay, 1318. 

'• I have now visited most of the villages in the colony. Each village has a 
place of worship, where prayers are niade^ morning and evening, in the presence 
of the people. The Sabbath is observed thiSugh the colony. 

" The Governor is justly esteemed as a father and patron of the colony. 

*' Respecting an American colony, he has at different times expressed tlie fol- 
lowing opinions, which I am the more disposed to write down, as some of them 
deserve particular consideration : That, in the first instance, white men of in- 
telligence and good character should occupy some of the principal offices : that 
liie government should be mild and energetic : that forts would be necessary : 
that one hundred men, with arms, and some knowledge of aiscipliiie, could de- 
fend themselves from the natives : that the occasional visits of an armed vessel, 
engaged in detecting slave traders, would give entire security : that the neu- 
trality of a colony could easily be ensured by an application to the European 
governments : that the first colonists should be men of sober and industrious habits, 
who will devote themselves to agriculture or to some of the useful mechanic arts : 
lliat, if expedient, the limits of this colony (Siiara Leone) might be enlarged to 
accommodate five or ten thousand emigrants from America : that it was particu- 
larly proper for the American government to commission an armed ship to this 
coast, to capture slave-trading vessels, as tvvo-thirds of them are, or have been 
American : that the free people of colour would be better situated in Africa, 
than they are, or can soon expect to be, in America. 

<' I am every day more convinced of the practicability and expediency of es-- 
tablishing American colonies on this coast.'' — [Ibid. p. 66. 

SIERRA LEONE.— From Hodgson's Letler. 

•' This Colony may be said to ov/e its origin to the liberality and benevoleiu. 
exertions of the celebrated Granville Sharp. At the time when the decision 
of Lord Mansfield, in the memorable case of the Negro, Somerset, had estab- 
lished the axiom, tliat " as soon as any slave sets his fool on English ground, he 
becomes free" there were many negioes in London who had been brought over 
by their masters. As a large proportion of these had no longer owners to sup- 
port them, nor any parish from which they could claim relief, they fell into great 
distress, and resorted in crowds to their patron, Granville Sharp, for support. 

" But his means were quite inadequate to maintain them all, even if such a 
plan had been desirable for the objects of his compassion, and "he formed a 
scheme for their future permanent support. He determined upon sending them 
to some spot in Africa, the general land of tiieir ancestors, where, when they 
were once landed under a proper leader, and with proper provisions for a time, 
and proper implements of husl)andry, they might, witii but moderate industry, 
provide for themselves." "Just at this time, Mr. Smeathman, who had lived 
for some years at the foot of the Sierra Leone mountains, and who knew the 
climate, and nature of the soil and productions there, who had formed a plan 
for colonizing those parts, was in London, inviting adventurers, but particularly 
the black poor, to accompany him on his return to his ancient abode*" Measures 
for this purpose were concerted by him and Granville Sharp, but Mr. Smeath- 
man, who was to have conducted the black colonists, died before they sailed, 
and the care, and for some time the expense of this bold enterprise, devolved en- 
tirely on Mr. Sharp. Nothing could be more discouraging than the calamities 
which befell the undertaking from its very outset. Of 400 black people who left 
the Thames on the 22d Feb. 1787, under convoy of his mHJesty"s sloop of war 
Nautilus, not more than 130 (who were afterwards reduced to 40) retnaineU 
■ilive and in one bodv at tho end of the rainy season, into which they had beeu 

D 



JLii 

lurown by the death of Mr. Smeathir Jn, notwithstanding Mr. Sharp's strenuous 
efforts to avoid it. Disaster follov ed disaster. Famine, disease, discontent, 
desertion, succeeded each oUier witli trigiitful rapidity, till the jear 1789, when 
the colony, again in a state of impro 'enienl, was almost anniliilated by a hostile 
attack from a neighbouring chief. A .out that time a company was established 
in England for the purpose of ca_^^'.'ing forward the benevolent views of the 
founder, which afterwards obtaine' i royal charter of incorporation. In 1792, 
about 1100 negroes arrived from Nov;. Scotia, under the command of Lieutenant 
CiarksoM. These were negroes whr had been induced to enlist in the British 
ainiy during the American war, by an offer of freedom, and " who were after- 
wards carried to Nova Scotia, undrr a promise of regular allotments of land, 
which promise had unfortunately n-jt been fulfilled ;" the climate being unfa- 
vourable to them, they solicited and obtained permission to join the colony at 
.Sierra Leone. In the year 1800, th(iir numbers were increased by the arrival of 
550 Maroons, who, having risen ;.^.iinst t!ie colonists of Jamaica, and been 
induced, by the terror of blood-hoi^nds, to surrender, were carried to ISova 
Scotia, and subsequently to Sierr-. Leone. Of such elements, (to which have 
.•iince been added the negroes libei-'ited from the holds of captured slave ships,) 
was the colony of Sierra Leone composed ; and nothing less than the extraor- 
dinary energy, fortitude, and perseverance of our illustrious countryman, could 
have saved it from the destruction with which it was so often menaced. "Cer- 
tainly without him the Sierra Leone Company would not have been formed, and 
had he not supported the colony, when it so often hung as it were by a thread, 
till the formation of tliis Company, all had been lost.'' This is not the place to 
follow it through all the vicissitudes of its subsequent history, but as its actual 
condition is little known, I will give a few extracts from various authorities, 
which will enable the judicious reader to form his own opinion how far it is like- 
ly to realize the expectation of its illustrious founder, and to be *' one day the 
means of spreading the benefits of civilization and Christianity through a con- 
siderable part of the vast continent of Africa.'' 

"On the 31st Oct. 1787, Granville Sharp writes, "I have had but melancholy 
accounts of my poor little ill-thriven swarthy daughter, the unfortunate colony 
of Sierra Leone." 

The following was the population in 1820 and 1822, as given in the Missionary 
Register of Dec. 1822. 

July 8, 1820. Jan. 1, 1P22, 

Europeans . . . _ 

Maroons - - . . 

IVova Scotians . . . - 
West Indians and Americans, 
Natives . . - . - 
Lil)erated Africans 
Disbanded Soldiers ... 
Kroomeu .... 

Tot^il 

" The chief increase is apparently in the class of natives, while that of libera- 
ted Africans seems to be somewhat diminished ; but this is, in part, occasioned 
by a difference of arrangement in the two returns. "The large number of na- 
tives in the native villages of the Peninsula, amounting in the last return to 
1925, woidd have been divided, according to the arrangement in the return of 
1820 — into natives, properly so calliil ; that is, as we conceive, the Aborigines 
111 the Peninsula ; and liberated Africans, living in villages, but not under a 
Miperintendnnt. In the return of IJfiO, this distinction was made ; and then the 
whole number, amounting to 1468, was divided into 400 of the first class, and 
106U of the second. Both classes being called " natives" in the last return, the 
number of liberated Africans appcais to have diminished ; while it has, in fact, 
greatly increased, independently of the addition of 1590 since lire dale of the last 
piurn. We collect from these datii, that the number of liberated Africans, of 
all liescriplionsj in the colony, on the Ibt of August, was upwards of KLEVe.v 

niOVKAND. 

" Still there is an increase of the class ranked as "natives" in the last return, 
to the amount of nearly 1000; of thrse about one-half are in Freetown, and the 
other half are chiefly resident in the settlements of the liberated Africans. This 



120 - 


128 


- 594 


• GOI 


730 - 


722 


. 


- 85 


1046 - 


3526 


8076 


- 7969 


1216 - 


1103 


T27 


- 947- 


12,509 


15,081 



27 

augtnentdtuwi is derivfid, we conceive, from the influx of pcoplu bordering on tiie 
colony ; and is a gratifying indication of the growth of mutual confidence between 
tiie colony and its neighbours." 

IMPORTS. Invoioe Amount. 

^' From Dec. 10, 1816, to Nov. 22, 1817 £75,716 6 0^ 

Nov. 23, 1817, to Dec. 10, 1818 94,799 14 5i 

Dec. 11, 1818, to Dec. 31, 1819 80,863 6 llj 

Jan. 1, 1820, to Dec. 31, 1820 66,725 9 4 

Jan. 1, 1821, to Dec. 31, 1821 105,060 15 10 

No. of Vessels Logs of Afri- Tons of 

employed in can timber Rice 

EXPORTS. exporting. Tonnage. exported, exported. 

•From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1817 17 2990 

Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1818 22 3659 1517 278 

Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1819 27 6875 2556 1228 

Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1821 26 6805 4736 42 

♦' Comparative Statement of Duties collected in the colony of Sierra Leone, for 
the undermentioned periods. 

" From Jan, 1 to Dec. 31, 1817 £3086 3 7 

Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1818 . . . '. 5124 1 3 

Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1819 4656 2 0| 

Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1820 6153 5 6 

Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1821 6318 4 7 

J. REFFELL, 
Acting Collector and Naval Officer. " 
At the moment I am writing, there are at least three vessels on the birth in this 
port, for Sierra Leone. 

Extract from Commodore Sir George C oilier'' s Second Anmial Report vpon the 
Settlements on the Coast of Africa, relative to the Colony of Sierra Leone. 

" Indeed, the colony of Sierra Leone has been .so differently represented, so 
much has been urged against its rising prospeiity, and proposals said to have been 
made for its abandonment, that I consider myself (as an impartial person) the 
one from whom opinions and remarks may be e.xpected. The climate of Sierra 
Leone is, like all other tropical climates, divided into a sickly season, and one 
not positively so : for it may be too much to speak of Sierra Leone as ever ab- 
solutely healthful." He then proceeds to speak of various topics particularly 
connected with the nature of his survey. Alluding to the schools and churches, 
he says, " The manner in which the public schools are here conducted, reflects 
the^!;reatest credit upon those concerned in their prosperity ; and the improve- 
m^it made by the scholars, proves the aptitude of the African, if moderate pains 
be taken to instruct him. 1 have attended places of public worship in every 
quarter of the globe, and I do most conscientiously declare, never did I witness 
the ceremonies of religion more piously performed, or more devoutly attended to, 
than in Sierra Leone." 

In his report dated 27th December, he observes, " The public buildings have 
not advanced so rapidly as I believe had been expected ; but it is, nevertheless, 
gratifying to observe, that the roads in the neighbourhood of Freetown, and 
those in the mountains, have been much improved, and that the bridges have 
been constructed of more durable materials than heretofore. Upon the whole, 
Sierra Leone may be said to be improving ; and if the encouragement hitherto 
shown shall be continued to the British merchant, no reason appears to me why 
this colony shall not, in the course of time, amply repay the anxiety, and care, 
and expense, so liberally bestowed by the mother country. Every year, some 
new prospect opens to the merchant. An intercourse with the interior of Africa 
now fairly promises ultimate success, and which must be productive of benefit to 
Great Britain ; and it may even be expected that, some years hence, caravans 
shall resort to the- neighbourhood of Porto Logo, (on a branch of the Sierra Le- 
one,) to convey articles of British manufactuie into the very interior of the con- 
tinent of Africa." 

Extract of a letter from Capt. IJ. Turner, dated the Tth March, 1022. 
" I visited the colony of Sierra Leone in the year 1817. My stay among the 
recaptured negroes in the mountains then was very short, but sufficient to asret- 
ain they were involved in heathen darkness and barbarity. 



'2S 

•' Having again visited tiicm in December, 1321, I am able, in some measure, 
to estimate the great ciiauge since the former period, both in a moral and reli- 
gious point of view, through the exertions of your missionaries, and the blessing 
of Almighty God upon their labours, without which all would have been ineffec- 
tual. 

" Regent's TOwn, under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Johnson, was then but 
thinly inhabited. 

" Regent's Town now wears the aspect of a well-peopled villnge in our happy 
land; its inhabitants civilized, industrious, lioncst, and neatly clothed. The 
ground allotted to each family is cultivated, each lot being distinctly marked out. 
1 have frequently ascended an eminence near the town to behold the pleasing 
scene on the Sabbath-day — hundreds pressing on to the house of God, at the 
sound of the bell, hungering after the bread of life. Nothing but sickness pre- 
vents their attendance now. What a lesson does this teach many in Britain, 
who count the Sabbath a burden, and either spend it in indolence and sloth, or 
in visiting and riot !" 

Extract of a letter from Edward Fitsgerald^ Esq. Chief Justice of the Colony of 
Hierra Leone., dated the 3d May, 1821 
After giving an interesting and detailed account of the various places of public 
worship within the colony, the Chief Justice then proceeds: "In a general 
view, the observances which have been noticed, will probably be thought suffi- 
cient to create a favourable impression of the state of religious feeling and de- 
meanour in the settlement of P'reetown. The Lord's day is more decorously 
kept than it is in most other places. The shops are all shut ; there is no such 
tiling as buying nnd selling. The Christian part of the people attend worship 
at the places whirh they have respectively chosen ; and all the congregations are 
alike remarkable for uniform and respectful attention. Throughout the streets 
corresponding propriety is noticed : intoxication, in the gross and disgusting 
lorin in wliich it is so commonly seen on the Lord's day in England, is of very 
rare occurrence here, with the painful exception of European seamen, whose 
ronduct and language in their frequent inebriations, on that day especially, are 
of most depraving example. It is not to be understood that the day passes 
in perfect sobriety ; among the inhabitants in general, it is the decency, and not 
the abstinence, that makes the distinction. Excesses are committed, and are 
generally brouglit under the animadversion of the magistrates on the Monday, 
in consequence of the quarrels occasioned by them : but these quarrels are al- 
most universally of a trifling nature. There is not any thing in the circumstances 
r.ollectively to detract from the credit that has been taken." 

Extract of a letter from the Rev. H. During, Superintendant of Gloucester Town, 
Sierra Leone, dated 2ith December, 1821. 

'• The reception which liis excellency Sir C. M'Cartliy met with among the 
people under our care, has indeed been feebly stated in the Gazette, as the 
editor also lioncstly owns. 

" The Captain, in whose vessel the Governor had come, was struck with as- 
tDnishmeiit. He (the captain) liad seen much of the negroes, having been in Ja- 
maica, and asked what time the settlement iiad been formed ? When told in 
the beginning of 1817, he smiled, and said to the Governor, Sir Charles M'Car- 
tliy, 'If I knew not your Excellency to be a man of honour, 1 should think my- 
sell greatly imposed on; and I must candidly confess, I can hardly believe it 
now 1' His Excellency tiien pointed out to him the way he fust came to this 
place, and the old trees lying about the town, cut down three or four years ago, 
as evidences of the truth. ' Hut,' snid the captain, 'what sort of people were 
they with which it was commenced .^' I pointed out to him some who were sent 
iurc in the beginning of November, that, looking at their emaciated state of 
body, he mi^lit form some idea of those with wlimii I began, and who only then 
were sixty-two in number, twenty of whom liied ere scarcely a month had 
t;lap&ed I He then iiKjuired wliat method we had pursued to bring them to such 
a stale in so hhort a time. ' No other,' said his Excellency, ' than the truths of 
(>lirisiianity, wliicli these gcnilcmcn were sent by the Church Missionary Society 
to piopagaic : l)y tiiis alone they hiiv(^ ruled them, anil have raised them to a 
common level unh othei civilir.ud nations ; and, believe me,' added his Exccl- 
Icnry, "if you .irlmit Clirisiian teachers into your island, \ou soon will find 
iheiD become affectionate nnd faithful servants to voii !' 



" Things us they now appear, humanly speaking, never wore so biigiil uiid 
pleasant an aspect ; for there were individuals, and are now at this moment, 
who always were endeavouring to undermine the credit of the Society, as well 
as that of the colonial government, as it respects the captured negroes; but sure 
it is, there never was such an opportunity lor observation — never were the pre- 
judices more effectually removed from the minds of many European colonists, 
and never had the Society gained more credit in the colony, even in the minds 
of those individuals alluded to, than through the present events ; as you, I trust, 
will see in the Report of the Sierra Leone Association in aid of the Church Mis- 
sionary Society, the collections and contributions to which amount to nearly 
200 pounds." 

Extracts from the Third Annual Report of the American Society for Colonizing 
the Free People of Colour of the United Slates. 

" What the Society propose to do with regard to colonizing, is to procure a 
suitable territory on the Coast of Africa, for such of the free people of colour as 
may choose to avail themselves of this asylum, and for such slaves as their pro- 
prietors may please to emancipate. 

" So far is this scheme fiom being impracticable, that one resembling it in all 
respects, was accomplished by a private society in England, more than thirty 
years ago. 

" In despite of every representation to the contrary, the colony of Sierra Leone 
boasts, at tliis moment, a greater degree of prospefity, than distinguished any 
one of the British Colonies, now the United States of America, at the same pe- 
riod after its first plantation. The population of Sierra Leone ; its commerce 
and navigation; its churches, schools, and charitable institutions; its towns 
and hamlets; its edifices, public and private ; surpass those of any one of these 
states, at any time within twenty-five years from its first settlement." 

It is for the reader to estimate the value of the preceding authorities, and to 
draw from them his own conclusions with regard to the present state and future 
prospects of Sierra Leone. It is for him also to decide how far the prosperity of 
u community formed of such unpromising materials, may be regarded as an ex- 
emplification of what the negro race may exhibit when rescued from slavery : 
how far such a colony of Africans, of many nations and languages, educated on 
their own shores, with ciyil rights, political privileges, and religious advantages, 
and in frequent communication with their countrj'men from the interior, is cal- 
culated to civilize Africa ; how far it may be expected to send forth, through a 
thousand channels, those fertilizing streams which will clothe the moral deserts 
of that injured Continent with verdure and beautv." 



(C.) 



EFFECTS OF THE COLONY. 

It will aid to suppress the Slave Trade. 
Extract from an Address to the American Colonization Society, Nov. 1013. 

" The slave-trade continues in Africa. To the grief of good men and the dis- 
grace of bad, it is carried on openly or secretly at many places on the coast, 
where the eye of justice is not widely open and the arm of power visibly extend- 
ed. A thousand thanks is due to the English colony of Sierra Leone, to its found- 
ers and patrons, for their persevering and useful labours in executing the aboli- 
tion laws. But what can one colonial brig do in guarding a coast of two 
or three thousand miles ? A ship might cross and almost recross the Atlantic to 
take in a second cargo, sooner than she could advance against current and trade- 
winds from the Gulf of Guinea to the Senegal. If previous preparation were 
made on the shore, a ship might run along a cape or into a river, and take in a 
cargo of slaves in a single week, and almost in a single night. In addition to the 
colonial brig, an English ship has passed down the coast about once a year. 
How inadequate are these means to the complete execution of the laws I All 
present laws may continue in force, and the slave-trade go on indefinitely. 

*' A colonization of the free people of colour of the United States in Africa will 
operate, in sei'eral \^'avs, directly against this trade. It will take away its 



• f u.o icinjji.itijn with tlip native princes and people, uy iiitrodutiug those atii- 
cles of foreign |)ioi1ucp and inanufactiiie to which they have become accustomed, 
and have few means of obtaining except by the sale of slaves. It may lead sonic 
(if our vessels to engage in an liounourable trade along the coast. It may be 
found convenient that some of our armed ships should occasionally visit stations 
on that ciiiiiinent. The people of colour themselves, taught in the school of ex- 
perience, will surely exert their iiifliienct- by persuasion, example and instruction, 
to effect iis ruin. Though a single colony could not look far up or down the 
const, yet a few colonies like Sierra Leone would do much to gi.ard the coast. 
Colonization may be regarded as one principle means, by which this scourge of 
Africa will be destroyed, this blot of humanity washed away, forever." 

Ijxtract from a letter, dated Mesurado, December 16, 1821, by Lieut. Stockton 
to the Secietary. 

" I am anxious that this letter maybe conveyed ;o you by the first opportuni- 
ty, and take ilie earliest moment to enclose copies of the written instruments, 
which we'B signed yesterday and to-day; by which a tract of land and some 
houses at Cape Mesurado, have been ceded to the Araerican Colonization So- 
ciety. 

" The slave-trade (in the destruction of which the nation as well as the go- 
vernment are so sincerely and zealous'y engaged) has received, by the purchase 
you have made at Mesurado, a fatal blow; under which it may indeed linger 
some time, but must eventually expire.''* 

" * The fii st act of the new order of /kings at Mesurado was, to declare that 
the slave-trade was contrary to the law of nature ; and a violation o{-^jusjen- 
tium :" tlijit all persons, nalire horn, or foreigners, so engaged, should be consi- 
dered '^hosla humani generis,'''' and if prosecuted and convicted in our high 
Court of Admirdlty, should be capitally condemned and punished." 

[5//i Report, p. 69. 

It carries civilization to Africa. 

It is an asylum for recaptured skives, taken by our government 
in executing its laws against the slave trade, and already contains 
tif'teen of these injured beings. 

It gives a home of freedom without contempt, to the degraded free 
blacks of our country. 

It will promote emancipation of the slaves of our country. 

" The past year" (1822) say the Managers of the parent Society, in their last 
report, " has also afforded evidence, to corioborate the opinion, expressed by 
the Board in their former Reports, that many extensive proprietors of slaves will 
emani:ip;ite their servants, and aid in their transfer to Africa, as soon as the 
colony shall be prepared for their receiition. The Managers cannot determine 
theextent of this liberal disposiiion ; but when they reflect ivpon the frequency of 
manumissiniis, wherever the law has imposed no lestriction, when they consider 
the power of example, in whatever concerns the honourable and generous of 
human character, and especially, when they recollect the institutions of their 
country, and the light of the age, they are induced to expect, that should pros- 
perity attend the colony, thousands now in servitude amongst us, will one day 
be freemen in the land of their ancestors." — &th Report, p. 15. 

•Several ap|)lications of owners to give up their slaves to the Society, are now 
before the IJoard, wailing for the colony to be so established, as to receive this 
unhappy class of our population. 

In 1813, the Convention of Manumission and Abolition Societies at Philadel- 
phia was npplieil to, to receive several hundreds of slaves, attended with large 
donations of money ; but the Convention was roiiipelled to give to these generous 
owners of blaves*, the unwelcome answer, that it could not receive them. 

Altlioii;;h the (iieat majority of slave-owners may he determined to perpetuate 
slavery in our country, it is certain there is a noble and increasing minority who 
arc (loliritons to emancipate their slaves, and strongly desirous to rid the country 
of this foul reproach. But by the state laws they are prevented from giving 
freedom to their bondmen. This Society is their only hope of relief. Hence, 
thoui>li there are iome engaged in this Society, who openly contend for slavery, 



.31 

but believe it would be a benevolent object to colonize the nee blacks, as th^y 
are eveilvmore degraded and flespised in the slave-stiites than the slavrs, and are 
most miserable, many of the most ufiicient nicMibers and most liberal benefar- 
tors of this Society, aie men wlio have slaves they wish to iiianuniit. M;iiiy of 
the pations of this Society at the south, who aie deplorinf!, the bitter evil<. ol sla- 
very, are satisfied it would not be for the happiness of the slaves, nor the bi'ii(fir 
of our country, were the slaves even gradually emancipated, if they must remain 
here, and are therefore looking to colonization as the only remedy. 

The Society affording such facilities for emancipation, has been assailed by 
the friends of slavery as an abolition society. It lias, therefore, in most explicit 
language, assured the south that it did not aim to requiie any to give up their 
slaves, but to relieve some from being co>n/*e//eri to keep them. Whcnf.erd, it 
offers its aid to give them a land of equal rights and desirable privileges ; and 
thus assists emancipation. It is simply a Society to colonizeyVer blacks. But 
objects so immense are promoted by such colonization, that, it would seem, it 
ought not to have found opposition any where. When such men as Mills, and 
Finley, and Paul Cuffee, were its active friends till death, it should not have 
found opposition where people call themselves Christians — certainly not at the 
north. 

" It would go far,'' say the Managers in their third Report, and it oui^hl to go 
far, " towards extinguishing the prejudices existing in the northern sections of 
tiie Union, if the fact were generally known, that in the two slave-holding siatos 
of Maryland and Virginia, where so many motives of policy conspire to retard, 
or to prevent emancipation, there were sixty-three thousand iree people of col()Ut 
at the census of 1810 : that within a few years past, more than five hundred 
slaves have been emancipated in Viiginia, by three individuals only, 

" When it is recollected that all the iree people of colour south of Pennsylva- 
nia owe their liberation to the voluntary acts of their former masters, it 
will not be deemed an extravagant deduction, to infer from these facts, that, 
when, by colonizing the free people of colour, every jiolitical restraint -upon 
emancipation shall have been removed, there will be found no sordid impediment 
to the colonization of Africa, in the propensities of the southern piopiietor. 

"Such, indeed, for the last thirty or forty years, has been the disposition of 
many individuals in the southern states, to emancipate their slaves ; and so many 
have actually been emancipated, that the different legislatures, consuliing for 
the general ^.ood, and deeming it highly injurious to the community that such 
sumbers of degraded beings, without education and without property, should be 
thrown upon society, have entirely prohibited the right of emancipation to indi- 
viduals, except on the condition of sending their slaves into some oiher state. 
The states of Pennsylvania and Oliio are the nearest asylums which will receive 
such ; and accordingly, the five hundred mentioned above, have been directed 
to these states. 

" If emancipation is still going on, notwithstanding all the restrictions, and l>y 
evasions of the laws, and while the condition of the free men of cf)lour affords so 
little inducement to the master to discard from his care those wlio depeiul upoi. 
him for protection, what may not be expected if Africa should prove to be to 
tliem what America is to us — a land of plenty and of freedom .'' 

" The Managers of the Society, from the repeated assurances which have 
been given by respectable individuals, as well as by what has actually orctirred, 
are firmly persuaded that this effect will be produced, and that many will, sn 
soon as the Society shall deem it proper to permit such a step, place under its 
direction those whom they no longer wish to retain in servitude.'" — pp. 99, 100. 

If there were not other immense objects promoted by colonization, there would 
be a claim on the north to aid such men to deliver themselves from the evil and 
guilt of holding slaves, and it would be nobly generous to do it, if there were no 
claim. But let the north remember, that it assisted not a little to make these 
men slave-holders ; that the odium of slavery rests on the whole nation, and that 
all are interested to pursue a course that promises to remove some at least of this 
national opprobrium, as much as all are intejested in the honour and prosperity 
of the nation. It is therefore a national, and not a sectional, object, as it truly 
is " an enterprise, looking to results as grand and as glorious as were ever 
effected by human exertion ; that would exterminate a trade, the thought of 
which is agony; cover Africa with the monuments of civilization and the Light 
of Truth ; remedy an evil, in its nature most distressing, in its influence most 
injurious, and which threatens to convulse our country; and thus render stain- 
less the honour, and eternal the stability, of the freest and the happiest nation 
on earth." — (,th Rf.port, p, 23. 



CIRCULAR. 

The Board ot" Managers of the American Colonization Society, 
powerfully urged by the necessities and importance of their insti- 
tution, beg leave respectfully and earnestly to invite you, Chris- 
tian friends, to aid their benevolent design. 

The proper season for emigration has now arrived ; many re- 
spectable coloured persons are ready to depart : and loudly does 
the Colony and the American nation demand from our Society im- 
mediate, bold, and vigorous action. Of the practicableness of 
their plans, the Board entertain no doubt. An adequate and suit- 
able territory has been obtained — there is, to coloured people, 
nothing formidable in the climate ; and the settlement at Montse- 
rado has been commenced with the strongest probabilities (unless 
culpably neglected) of security and success. Indeed, the impres- 
sion of the power and courage of civilized men, made by the re- 
cent contest on the minds of the barbarians, together with the 
existing fortifications, will, without doubt, prevent any recurrence 
of hostilities. Multitudes are anxious to visit the Colony, and 
this number is daily augmented. 

Christians! The object of our Society is, to rescue the free 
coloured people of this country, from degradation, ignorance, 
and vice, and to confer on them, in the land of their ancestors, 
true freedom, the knowledge, which civilizes and exalts, and 
the religion that saves the soul : to kindle a light on a dark and 
barbarous shore, and to plant the Cross there ; and thus emancipate 
from superstition, innumerable tribes, and bring them to adore 
and obey the living God : and finally, by the influence of our pub- 
lications, and by demonstrating that the plan of Colonization, is 
both practicable and desirable ; to prepare the way for such legis- 
lative enactments, as shall deliver our country from the immense 
evil of slavery — a work, which must contribute most largely to 
the interest of humanity, our national honour, and the glory of God. 

Great as this work may appear. Heaven has unquestionably de- 
creed its accomplishment ; and the Colonization Society rejoice to 
commence it, though they must leave its completion to a future age. 

The Board have determined to fit out one or two vessels imme- 
diately, from Petersburgh or Richmond, Va ; and they venture 
to ask their friends to furnish them with the means. They ax'e 
not unmindful of the fact, that numerous important objects now 
claim your charitable attention and support, and they cannot ex- 
pect large contributions ; but they trust you will recollect, that 
lie who is the Light of the Gentiles and the Glory of Israel, came 
to bring those who sit in darkness out of the prison-house, and that 
in His reign, Ethiopia must stretch out her hands unto God. A 
mere mite from each individual, will effect the immediate object 
proposed in this letter ; and he who gives it from a sense of duty, 
shall in no wise lose his reward. 

RALl'lI RANDOLPH GURLEY, 

Agent for the Board. 
^V'ASHI^•GT0N Cjtv, October lath, 1823. 

IL'/'Tlic Agent for this vicinity will add, tliat 120 colonists arc ready— that 
tliiu expedition will soon depart— niiu that donations to aid it can be kit at Mr 
.' P. HAVrNs', 1R2 Broadwov, New-York I- P. DKWEY. As*"))' 



PROPOSA.LS 

FOR PUBLISHING BF SUBSCRIPTION, UNDER THE DIRECTIO 

OF I'ue 

Board of jManagers of the American Colonization Society 
A MOx\THLY PERIODICAL WORK, 

TO BE ENTITI.F.I) 

THIS ArnzcAsr zusfosztory, 

AND 

COLONIAL JOURNAL. 



The deep and increasing interest which is felt in many par 
of this country, on the subject of the efforts to Colonize tt 
free people of Colour of the United States, on the Africa 
coast, has induced the Board of Managers of the Colonizatio 
Society, to propose the establishment of a periodical Worl 
which shall furnish the public with accurate information cor 
cerning the plans and prospects of their Institution ; give 
minute account of its operations, and the condition and pre 
gress of the Colony ; communicate any new and interestin 
intelligence which may be received, relating to Geography 
Natural History, Manners and Customs, of Africa ; and ad 
mil into its pages such essays as may be thought calculate 
to advance the interests of the Colony, or the cause of Africa 
improvement, as well as select passages from authors who hav 
already written on this subject : and important extracts fror 
the Reports of such foreign Associations as are making exei 
tions to suppress the Slave-Trade, or relieve the African raqi 



i 



CONDITIONS. 

I. The work shall comprise thirty-two pages in each num 
ber, and shall be similar in paper, and in the style of exec 
tion, to ilie Christian Observer. 

n. The price shall be two dollars a year, payable on tlj 
delivery of the sixth number. 

III. Tliose who shall become responsible for six copies 
^hall receive a seventh gratis. 

IV. The work will be commenced whenever llie number c 
subscribers shall be snfljritnt to justify it. 

Subscriptions for the work will be received by the agenl 
i . 1). Oewpy, and by J. P. Havens, bookseller. IS2 Broadwav 



&4 



■yW*.' 



\<^ 




t-» f 



.Ov: 



• , • A 















%r c: 



0^ 



"ov 





































o _Jpn^ ^ 

















\.^' 
5^"-. 










'^ 



P ♦ 



•^o^ 
















